


Dragon Season: Avalanche

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Dragon Season [10]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Avalanches, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Mating Bond, Missions Gone Wrong, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2019-10-18 11:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17579729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: 'Dragons and their children only have one mate in their life, and if the chosen mate rejects them then they will spend their entire life alone.'A chance to get away on a job, and hopefully a holiday seems almost too good to be true after the last few months. And when Gray and Natsu find themselves, injured and stranded, it seems that it might have been too good to be true.





	1. Chapter 1

   Gray hummed to himself as he followed the path that Natsu was making for them through the snow, enjoying the colder climate of the mountains after having to endure the heatwave in Magnolia for the past couple of weeks. He knew that was one of the reasons that Natsu had suggested that they take the job to remove the group of Vulcans that had chosen to block the trade route through the mountains, not that the Dragon-slayer would ever admit to it of course. He smiled as he caught Natsu peering back at him, earning a bright grin in return as the Fire mage slowed down slightly to let him catch up, the snow around him steaming under his heat.

“Feeling better?” Natsu asked when Gray reached him, a knowing note in his voice and Gray smiled and reached for his hand, knowing that his mate would feel his contentment through the bond.

“Much, thank you,” he murmured, aware that Natsu much preferred the warmer weather even if his magic meant that he dealt with the cold nearly as well as Gray did. However, Natsu didn’t look perturbed in the slightest. Instead, there was a look of contentment on his face as he squeezed Gray’s hand that the Ice mage hadn’t seen in far too long, and he felt the lingering worries and a tension that he hadn’t even been aware of disappearing. It was impossible for him to feel down or worried when Natsu looked so happy, especially over such a simple thing as spending time together and holding hands, and his lips curled up as he tugged Natsu closer so that he could wrap an arm around his shoulders instead. “It’s been ages since we last got away without the rest of the team, I’ve missed having you to myself.” In fact, it had been months since they’d had any real time to themselves, as it seemed like they had been on a constant rollercoaster of jobs and disasters recently.

“Me too,” Natsu agreed, playfully nuzzling against Gray’s shoulder for a moment and drinking in the Ice mage’s scent, it was something that he didn’t normally get to do on jobs, and he revelled in the fact that he could do what he wanted this time. While Erza and the others were good about giving them time to themselves when they were travelling or on a job, it wasn’t the same as being on their own, and he was perfectly content to endure snow and Vulcans if it meant that they could have some time to themselves as well. “You still owe me lots of ice-cream when we get back…”

“It might be cold when we get back or raining,” Gray teased, knowing that neither weather would stop Natsu from eating ice-cream, it was one of the Dragon-slayer’s biggest weaknesses. Something that he had used to his advantage many times when the idiot was being particularly stubborn, and even now he could see the dreamy expression in Natsu’s eyes at the mention of ice-cream, or food in general. Then Natsu was scowling at him, poking him in the side and making the Ice mage jolt away in case he decided to start tickling at him.

“I’ll still want my ice-cream…”

“I know, I know,” Gray reassured him, kissing him quickly on the cheek and laughing as Natsu immediately blushed. While Natsu had got a lot better at handling romance and romantic gestures after all this time, he still tended to get flustered at silly gestures like that and secretly Gray hoped that would never change, pulling Natsu flush against his side. “I’ll even throw in…” He trailed off as he realised that Natsu had tensed, stopping as well when the Fire mage froze completely a moment later, olive eyes narrowed as he glanced around them with no sign of the playfulness, he had been showing a moment before. “Natsu…?” The Dragon-slayer shook his head to silence him, sniffing the air and looking around with more urgency and Gray found himself bringing his hands together in readiness, he had been saved by his mate’s senses too many times to ignore his behaviour now.

“Above us!” Natsu shouted erupting into movement before he had even finished yelling, and Gray grunted as he found himself being shoved back just a large shape dropped down into the space where he had been standing, and he swallowed thickly as he stared at the Vulcan now towering over them.

It looked like their prey had found them.

    Natsu was already moving as he scrambled back to his feet, flames wreathing his entire body as he shot skywards, colliding midair with a second Vulcan that had been descending on them, sending the creature flying back into the rocks above them. Gray was quick to recover, ice spreading around him, as he sensed movement behind him, even as he turned to face the first Vulcan, lips quirking up into a grin as he heard Natsu’s triumphant shout from above him, feeling it echo through the bond.

“Oi, Flamebrain save some for me!” He called, even as he brought his hands together even as the first Vulcan sprang forward with a howl, his ice taking it midair and sending it tumbling down the slope they’d just climbed, obliterating their tracks as though they’d never been there. He didn’t have a chance to say anything more, as the movement behind him turned out to be two more Vulcan closing in on his position, and with a sigh, he dropped back into a ready position. “This job was supposed to be a break, now we’re going to be finished too quickly,” he informed them, seeing no comprehension in the expressions that met his gaze, and his eyes narrowed as he let his magic flair. “I won’t forgive you for that.”

*

    The next few minutes were a blur, because as mindless as the Vulcan were, they were strong and there were a lot more of them than the job flyer had hinted at. Gray knew that Natsu was okay, the constant warmth in the back of his mind reassuring him, even as he had no chance to take his eyes off his own opponents. Although the sporadic bursts of heat, too close for comfort, but never touching him, were proof of their own and not for the first time he found himself wondering how they had wound up here. Together. Fire and ice. It didn’t matter though, because it was there – the flames at his back as he stumbled back, the Dragon-slayer moving through the gap to slam his fist into a Vulcan’s face. Just as his ice was there, unyielding as he caught Natsu, giving his mate something solid to launch from, and just for a moment, that was all there was.

Just the two of them.

Fire and Ice.

    Then the ground gave way beneath his foot, throwing him off balance, and before he could even make a noise of alarm at the crevice now opening beneath him, a scream was torn from him as one of the Vulcan’s sprang forward. Claws raked his shoulder, and he was flung backwards, the impact saving him from falling. Although that was little relief as he found himself on his back in the snow, with the Vulcan looming over him, and two more pressing in from either side. _Damn it._ His shoulder was throbbing, blood trickling down his front, and there was a flicker to his magic as he conjured a shield just before the claws could reach him again. _Natsu, I need some help…._ The words were there, but he couldn’t shout them, because he couldn’t see the Dragon-slayer right now and he couldn’t see how Natsu was faring, and he couldn’t…wouldn’t distract him.

      However, the thought had barely settled into his mind before there was a growl in the back of his mind. The warmth that signified their bond erupting into an inferno, and the growl rose and rose until Gray realised that he was no longer just hearing it in his mind, but in his ears as well and his eyes flew open as he heard his mate’s voice.

 “Gray!” Before he could reply, the world above him exploded in flames, and instinctively he flung a hand up to shield his eyes, although he knew that there was no way Natsu’s magic would harm him.

   As soon as the worst of the heat had passed, Gray was moving, staggering back to his feet. Pressing a hand to the cuts on his shoulder and covering them with ice. It was only a temporary measure, but it would have to do for now.  It was still creeping across his skin, as he whirled encasing a severely burned Vulcan in ice before he sought out Natsu as there was a spike of alarm through the bond. The alarm became pain that bled through to Gray, as he turned just in time to see Natsu being flung into the rocks above them. There was a sickening crack that had Gray flinching and wincing in sympathy, and then Natsu was falling. Falling, and making no effort to catch himself, colliding with the lower rocks before he rolled a good distance down the slope, eventually coming to a halt as enough snow built up to support his weight, and Gray blanched as he realized how close they had all moved towards the sheer drop that followed the pass.

“Natsu!” Gray shouted trying to make his way across to the Dragon-slayer, only to find his way blocked by the last two Vulcans and his eyes narrowed dangerously. _Natsu…_ He glanced across at Natsu, alarmed to find that the Dragon-slayer was sluggishly trying to push himself up, rather than bouncing back to his feet as he normally would, worry flooding him as he caught a flash of crimson in the pink hair, and he shifted his attention back to their assailants with a low snarl.  “ICE MAKE: LANCE!” Anger and concern lent him strength, the force of the attack blasting the last two assailants clear off the side of the cliff before either Vulcan could even think of dodging or retaliating. Gray waited long enough to watch them disappear from sight, unable to feel any concern for the creatures or the fact that they had failed to get any proof of their success to take back to their client, instead shifting his attention back to his mate.

    His eyes widened with alarm as he realised that Natsu had ceased his sluggish attempts to rise, and was now knelt slumped over in the snow, his head bowed which was preventing him from getting a good read on the Dragon-slayer’s expression. Still, the stillness and quietness were alarming, because Natsu was never quiet and he felt dread pooling in his stomach. He had seen Natsu bounding to his feet with injuries that would have downed a lesser mage, so he dreaded to think what kind of wound could have reduced him to this state. Then there was the sick, queasy feeling seeping through the bond. One that turned to a grey haze as soon as he tried to reach it, as though Natsu was miles away, rather than right in front of him, and it terrified the Ice Mage.

    Gray bolted forward, ice forming beneath his feet to stop the snow from giving way beneath his feet as he hurried towards the Dragon-slayer. “Natsu! Natsu, look at me.” There was no response, and he sent snow flying as he skidded to a halt in front of Natsu, reaching out to grab the Dragon-slayer’s shoulders, and scowling when there was still no reply.

“Look at me,” Gray ordered in a gentle tone, placing a finger under the Dragon-slayer’s chin and tilting Natsu’s head up, despite the soft protest that met the action. The Ice mage felt his heart plummet as he took in the dazed expression on Natsu’s face, and the wide dilated pupils… _head injury…concussion…_ his mind helpfully supplied, and he bit his lip at the diagnosis. Such injuries were dangerous at the best of times, let alone when they were high up in the mountains without a healer, and no way of getting out of there but their own two feet. They hadn’t even brought Happy with them this time, as they had hoped to get some alone time once the job was done. Now he cursed that decision as he doubted that Natsu would be going anywhere under his own steam at the moment, and there was a growing throbbing in his shoulder, reminding him that he wasn’t unharmed either.

“Gray…” Natsu shifted uneasily under his gaze, voice thick with pain and confusion and Gray growled under his breath, it was clear that the shock was beginning to wear off, allowing the Dragon-slayer to feel everything that had been numbed in the immediate aftermath. “W-what…?” He was trying to get up again, without much success as his body didn’t want to cooperate with him and the Ice mage was quick to grab him, trying to hold him still without frightening him.

“Shh it’s okay,” Gray murmured soothingly, trying to stop his own panic from showing through as Natsu moved restlessly under his hands, a distressed whimper escaping as he moved his head no doubt making it hurt more than ever. “Hey don’t move so much…”

“B-but…I don’t understand.”

“It’s all right,” he wanted to laugh at his own words, everything was as far from all right as it could be and he had no idea how to fix it. Natsu still looked confused, and he sighed, gingerly pulling the Dragon-slayer into a tight hug, letting his hand ghost over his mate’s body to check for any other injuries that he might have missed. Sighing with relief when he found nothing more than the normal scrapes and bruises to be expected from a fight like that, well if you ignored the head wound.  “You’ve just had a little bit of accident that’s all.”

“Gray….’kay?” Natsu had settled a little now that he was resting against Gray, although he still sounded out of it, his voice breathy with pain and he whimpered again as he tilted his head to peer up at the Ice mage. It took Gray a moment to figure out what his mate was asking, something unpleasant twisting in his stomach at the realisation that even now the idiot was worrying about him and he had to take a deep breath before answering, aware that Natsu wouldn’t understand his irritation in his current state.

“I’m fine.”

“Good…” Natsu breathed looking relieved for a moment before he closed his eyes with a groan, and Gray was about to panic, knowing that he couldn’t risk letting the Dragon-slayer sleep at the moment when he spoke again. “Gray?” Weak fingers were gripping at his arm now, and he had a feeling that Natsu was trying to ground himself by clinging to him, and he tightened his hold to reassure him that he was still there.  “What happened…?”  The question had his heart plummeting, and it was made worse by the small voice, Natsu sounding utterly lost as his grip tightened again.

 


	2. Chapter 2

     Whereas moving through the snow had been irritating before, it was now a seemingly insurmountable task as Natsu was worryingly unsteady on his feet, teetering and listing to one side or another if Gray’s attention wavered for even a second. He’d made one half-hearted plea for Natsu to try and help him clear the path, not really expecting much as the Dragon-slayer’s gaze had been going in and out of focus as they talked, but the resulting effort had left Gray with a burnt arm and Natsu so pale that he had thought his mate was about to pass out there and then. And of course, the idiot had apologized, catching the pain, worry and fleeting irritation that Gray hadn’t been able to stop from bleeding through the bond.

    Now though he was quiet, and Gray wasn’t entirely sure whether that was because of the head injury, the fact that he was desperately trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, or because Gray had snapped at him slightly for the apology. It was probably all three, and Gray wanted to apologise at least for the part that he had played a role in, but he doubted that the words would mean anything to Natsu in his current state. So, all he did was tighten the arm that he had wrapped around the Dragon-slayer, a silent reassurance that he was still there, although considering that he was more or less the only thing propping him up right now, he doubted that Natsu could forget.

   It was ten minutes or so later, and they had made far too little progress for that amount of time when Natsu became restless under his grip, half-heartedly trying to pull away, and lifting his head and blinking as he looked around at their surroundings. There was a brief flicker of something like comprehension in his expression, before it disappeared behind a wince, that Gray echoed as he felt the pain behind it through the bond, wishing that there was something he could do to ease it.

“Gray…?”

“Yeah,” Gray murmured, biting back a grimace. The confusion was back, and he decided that he never wanted to hear Natsu like this again. There were plenty of times when the idiot was clueless, but this was different, especially as Natsu looked at him as though he held all the answers in the world when it had been a long time since he had felt this helpless.

“I don’t…” Natsu shook his head, visibly regretting the action and for a moment Gray thought that he was about to throw up, stiffening, ready to support him if that happened. But while Natsu lost what little colour he’d had left, he took an unsteady breath before looking back at the Ice Mage. “…What happened?” It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, and Gray had been hoping that the lapse into silence had spelt the end of it, but he didn’t let his frustration show, because he knew that was only going to add to the mess.

“Just an accident,” he soothed. “We just need to get down off the mountain, and then we can find someone to look at your head.”

“My head?” Natsu echoed with a frown, lifting an uncoordinated hand to his head and wincing as it came into contact. “It hurts.” He sounded surprised and frustrated at once, and Gray reached out to catch his hand before he could touch it again.

“I know,” he squeezed Natsu’s fingers, both to soothe the Dragon-slayer but also to ground himself, reassuring himself that Natsu was still there with him.  “But you’re going to be okay.” He added with a confidence he didn’t quite feel, but it seemed to be enough as Natsu nodded, just a tiny movement as though he had remembered that his head was hurt. Which Gray hoped he had, as it would be a tiny sign that he was beginning to improve, something that they both desperately needed right now. “Come on, we need to keep moving.” Normally, Natsu was the last person he would need to worry about in this kind of environment, but right now he wanted the Dragon-slayer as far away from the snow and mountains as possible.

“O-okay,” Natsu followed as he tugged him forward, following him trustingly or now at least there was a spark of something approximating understanding in his expression.

    Silence fell again as they moved slowly back down the mountain, Natsu’s attention once more riveted on just being able to keep moving. Gray embraced the quiet, not sure how much longer he could stay calm in the face of Natsu’s confused questions and having a feeling that it wouldn’t be for long before the conversation repeated. Still, he had to admire Natsu’s tenaciousness in that time. He was hurting and confused, with nothing to really tether him to the situation at hand beyond Gray’s touch, and yet he kept going, following the Ice Mage with a trust that took Gray’s breath away as he stumbled and slipped on the snow. Reliant on Gray to guide him around deeper patches of snow, and places where his magic flared, warning him of hidden ice that could have sent them both careening down the mountainside and crevasses that ran deeper than Gray cared to think about

  _Not that we have much choice,_ Gray thought bitterly as he glanced at Natsu, hearing how ragged his breathing had become and the odd pained moan that the Dragon-slayer wasn’t fully able to suppress, There was little Gray could do for him up here, and temperatures would only drop as the hours passed, and he couldn’t rely on Natsu’s natural heat to protect him while he was injured. They had to get down, and as quickly as possible, and now he was the one to break the silence, murmuring reassurances and encouragements in a soft voice when Natsu began to slow down.

_Please, let him keep going._

_Just a little longer._

*

    When the noise came Gray wasn’t sure how he’d heard it before Natsu. It had been a tiny sound, even within the wide, echoing expanse of snow around them, and he had almost dismissed it as his imagination, but there was a prickle of unease at the back of his neck that had him glancing around. Natsu made a soft noise of protest, confused by the sudden pause after Gray had been urging him to keep going only seconds before.

“Quiet,” Gray ordered, squeezing Natsu’s shoulder in apology for the sharpness as he glanced around, eyes narrowed. He hoped that the Vulcans hadn’t managed to regroup in the time that it had taken them to get this far, because there was no way on Earthland that Natsu could fight in his current state, and yet he knew the idiot would try if Gray was in danger. However, there was no sign of the creatures, and it didn’t feel like there were eyes on them, and he was beginning to turn back to Natsu, deciding that exhaustion and stress were playing tricks on him when he heard the sound again. A tiny crack and he glanced down, half expecting to see cracks forming beneath his feet, but the snow was undisturbed apart from where their feet had been.

    Then something shifted beneath his feet, and it took him a split second to realise that the ground was vibrating beneath his feet, and this time there was no missing the sound. It was a dull rumbling in the distance, almost like the first murmurings of a distant storm, or the sound of waves hitting the shore.

Only this was moving

Quickly, and right towards them.

   Then it crackled like thunder, loud and echoing as it seemed to swell and fill the air around them until it was an endless roar in Gray’s ears just as he caught the faintest glimpse of movement up above them. For a second it looked like cloud sweeping down towards them, and the uneasiness became terror in a split second, as he realised that it wasn’t cloud, but snow and ice and rock.

_Avalanche._

    There was no shelter up here, and no way that they could outrun it. Gray could see it clearly now, a moving river of snow and rock coming towards them in a relentless wall, and for a moment his mind went blank. He forgets the lessons that had been drilled into him as a child living in the north, and later by Ur who had tried to teach them all the follies of ice and snow. Then Natsu made a noise beside him, confusion and fear clouding the bond and Gray moved. There was no real thought in it, just an overwhelming, desperate need to protect the Dragon-slayer as he flung himself back up the slope, standing between Natsu and the oncoming avalanche. _Ur. Ultear. Please…let me protect him,_ he thought desperately as he brought his hands together.

“ICE MAKE: SHIELD!” The spell was as familiar as breathing, one of the first that he had learned and he fleetingly recalled the tiny, pitiful excuse of a shield that had been his first efforts. Then his magic was swelling, surging to the front under the force of his emotions, and ice blossomed in front of him, growing and growing, and forming a protective wall ahead of them just as the front of the avalanche reached them.

    It slammed into the shield with the force of a tsunami, and cracks immediately spread across the surface of his ice as it groaned from the impact, and he found himself slipping back a few steps until he brushed up against a warm body. _Natsu._ The Dragon-slayer was saying something, but the words were lost, swallowed by the roar that had engulfed them as streaming mass of ice and snow split around them, charging past, blinding him as the movement created a blizzard around them as the snow was flung up in the air. He could feel it creeping in, threatening to consume them from the side, and he swept his arms back, pooling his magic into the shield, repairing the damage and extending it.  A dome might have been better he realised belatedly, but then they might have been trapped beneath the snow.

    It was too late for doubts now, and he squeezed his eyes shut, pouring everything he had into the wall as he felt it cracking and splintering again. _Please. Please let me keep him safe._ His heart was hammering in his chest, and he knew that it would have been a dull roar in his ears if he could have heard anything above the avalanche. It hurt to breathe, the temperature plummeting around them, as slowly, irrevocably crept closer, forcing the shield back towards them.

 Trapping them.

     He was panicking. Breath coming hard and fast, his magic slower to respond now as he reinforced the wall. _It’s not enough. It’s…_ There was a burst of heat behind him, and he felt rather than heard the roar from the Dragon-slayer, and his eyes shot open in alarm.

“NATSU DON’T…” It was too late. Natsu’s control was shot to hell with the concussion playing havoc with him, and the flames went wild, turning the snow around them to a steaming, fast-flowing river, and he could feel it eating his ice even as he felt the alarm through the bond, the confusion and guilt before the heat of Natsu’s flames vanished. He didn’t have time to reassure his mate though, unable to focus enough even to send anything through the bond as he felt his ice inching closer to breaking. “NO!” He gritted his teeth, trying to hold it up but it had already been on the brink and his magic was flickering around the edges and slow to respond. There was a cracking sound, and then another, and then the sides shattered, showering them both with shards of ice, before the melted snow, and the still moving avalanche rushed in and he felt the front of the shield beginning to break too.

     Abandoning it but praying that it would hold up just long enough he twisted around and grabbed for Natsu, feeling warmth beneath his fingers just before the shield broke.  It was like being hit with a tidal wave, and Natsu was ripped out of his grip as they were caught in the avalanche’s grip as it rolled onwards, unheeding of the mages caught in its grip. Gray knew they couldn’t afford to get buried up here. If they did then they were screwed because it would be days if not longer before someone realised that something had happened, but he needed to find Natsu first because he wasn’t going to survive without the Dragon-slayer.

“Natsu!” He screamed, the sound lost in the deafening roar of the avalanche as he tried desperately to keep his head above the surface, almost swimming in it, searching desperately for some sign of the Dragon- slayer. Natsu was close, and still conscious, he could feel him in the bond and he focused on that, and on the confused terror he could feel seeping through it, not entirely sure which of them it belonged to, barely registering the pain as a hidden rock collide with his shoulder as he searched frantically for a flash of pink against the grey and white.

There!

     Natsu was being swept along parallel to him, helpless against the strength of the current and Gray gritted his teeth as he dredged up the last vestiges of his magic. He couldn’t stop this. He couldn’t protect Natsu, but he could at least make sure they were together. Something deep inside him burned and ripped, as he drew more power than he had, forcing his way through swirling mass, everything he had focused on getting to Natsu until he was no longer sure if the roaring in his ears was from the avalanche or from the white noise wiping out his thoughts.

   Then there was warmth beneath his desperate, searching fingers and he locked on, icing them together, feeling the pain that flared through the bond. _It’s okay,_ he tried to send, but wasn’t sure if he succeeded, everything swirling together as he kicked his legs, pushing against the current of the avalanche and trying to get them as close to the edge as possible, He could feel Natsu trying to rally and help him as much as possible, but it felt like molasses, and more than once the ice holding them together threatened to splinter and break, as debris slammed into them. Everything hurt and ached, but he couldn’t stop, because they had to survive this.

Natsu had to survive this.

     The avalanche was slowing he realised, the roar becoming more a rumble and he redoubled his efforts, knowing that when it settled the snow and ice could become like concrete around them and that neither of them would have the strength to escape that. _Keep going. Keep kicking. Keep pushing._ It became a mantra, one that he pushed through the bond, praying that Natsu would understand and help him, but unable to tell if the message was getting through. And he lost track of how long that was his world, kicking and swimming, desperately pulling Natsu with him, as the avalanche eased itself to a slow, rumbling halt. In fact, it took him a moment to realise that it had stopped, he was so caught up in his efforts, the snow and ice still groaning as it settled around them, slowing him with it. Trapping him. But his head was clear, he could breathe, and although his vision was blurring around the edges he could see.

“Natsu…” His voice came out as a strangled noise that he didn’t recognise, as he twisted as best he could, weak with relief as he realised that Natsu was within arm’s reach. At least until he took in the closed eyes, and pained expression. “NATSU?” He shouted, trying to reach out for him. Only to realise the arm that he had iced to Natsu’s was trapped beneath the snow, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t free it. Nor could he reach the Dragon-slayer with his other arm, and now he could feel the avalanche setting around them, locking them in place, and a frustrated sob bubbled up. “Natsu, please…” There was no response, but when he focused he could feel the Dragon-slayer’s warmth in the bond and as he blinked to clear his vision, trying to ignore the way the world swayed as he did so, he realised he could see Natsu was breathing, albeit raggedly.

_He’s alive._

    It was a small comfort, but it was all that Gray had right then. His magic was spent, the link with Natsu fading as they lay there trapped in the snow, and now that he was no longer focused on keeping them above the surface, he was noticing the injuries he hadn’t noticed in the chaos. His shoulder was a throbbing mess of pain, and he could feel the warmth of blood on his skin. His arm and face were also littered with cuts and bruises from both the debris, and the splintering of the ice wall, and his head was pounding. _Which is more than enough,_ he thought, grimacing at the coppery taste on his lips as he swallowed, before glancing around.

    The route they had taken up the mountain earlier was unrecognisable, and he had no idea the avalanche had carried them, unable to find any familiar landmarks in what he could see. Trees and boulders had been torn loose and tossed aside, and what had been smooth snow before, was now a churning mass of snow and ice littered with debris. _Lost. Trapped. Injured._  A bubble of laughter rose in the back of his throat, and he let his head fall back against the snow as he fought to keep it contained, eyes stinging as he stared up at the blue sky above them.

_And it looks like any other day…_

 


End file.
